Day: May 20, 2014

Well, look at this. Using an $800,000 grant from anti-drilling Mamma Teresa Heinz Kerry and her Heinz Endowments, a new ambulance-chasing, non-profit law firm called Fair Shake is setting up shop in Pittsburgh. It’s purpose is to find people of “modest means” to offer free legal advice if those people believe they’ve been harmed “environmentally”–whatever that means. Translation: they’re setting up shop to litigate against the Marcellus Shale industry. But they’ll also go up against “big coal” or anyone else that produces those evil, nasty fossil fuels…Continue reading

Record-breaking low winter temperatures drew down inventories of natural gas in the northeast this past winter. The natural gas utility that serves some of the largest markets in PA, including northeast PA and southeast PA, is UGI. They announced yesterday that due to the supply/demand issues from winter, they will need to boost the price of natgas to their customers in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area by 5.7% come June 1st. UGI is also boosting rates for their customers in southeast PA (greater Philadelphia area) by 4% on June 1st. However, UGI’s third natgas service area–in central PA–will not change on June 1st and will actually go down on December 1st by 2.3%. Why is the price going up in two regions but down in the third?…Continue reading

A sad footnote to a sad story. The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) played a high stakes game of chicken with Monroe County, OH’s largest employer–the Ormet aluminum smelter plant that at one time employed 900 people–and lost…Continue reading

Moody’s Investors Service released a new report last week titled, “North American Natural Gas Pipelines: Retooling as Gas Flows Shift, New Demand Emerges from LNG and Power.” The high level conclusions of the report are that if you’re in the Marcellus zone of influence, there are big changes happening with natural gas pipelines. Those changes include brand new pipelines being built, existing pipelines being extended, and entire pipeline reversing their flows. Outside of the Marcellus influence zone? Status quo…Continue reading

The owner of a golf course in North Braddock, PA (Allegheny County, near Pittsburgh) has leased the golf course for Marcellus Shale drilling and he wants drilling on or near the course. And because of it, he’s taking a lot of heat from some local residents…Continue reading

The 70,000-member strong Joint Landowners Coalition of New York (JLCNY) is circulating a poignant 1-page flyer (see it below). The flyer lists three prominent Democrats on the left side who have publicly voiced support for shale drilling and natural gas. Along the right side are two prominent Democrats and a Communist who don’t support American shale drilling, although one of them may support it if given a swift kick in the pants. Can you guess who the mystery fence-sitter, man-child, equivocating, non-leader is? (Hint: His last name begins with a “C”)…Continue reading

Listen up companies in the northeast shale supply chain–or those who hope to be. A good resource for you is the online ShaleDirectories.com, a sort of “yellow pages” for companies who want to sell to the shale industry. Until now, ShaleDirectories.com has served the Marcellus and Utica region. However, they’ve just announced a major expansion to several other key U.S. shale plays…Continue reading

Each year the Ben Franklin Shale Gas Innovation and Commercialization Center (SGICC) conducts a contest for researchers, entrepreneurs and innovators working in the shale gas space in PA or WV (see 2014 Ben Franklin Shale Gas Contest – $100K in Cash Prizes!). They award four $25,000 prizes to those companies or people they believe have unique products and services that will benefit the shale industry. This year’s winners have just been announced! Envelope please…Continue reading